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Best and Bravest Awards

On February 4th I was given the OCFA Lifesaving Citation at their awards program. A great tribute.
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Firefighters present awards to brave citizens at city council meeting

Just after 11 p.m. on May 29 on the Santa Ana freeway just past La Paz, an SUV spun out and lost control, rolled into the path of an oncoming bus, flipped once or twice, and exploded into a ball of flame, the Orange County Register said.

Water-rescue-trainer Shawn Alladio was on her way home from a full day of teaching water rescue techniques to Marines at Camp Pendleton when she saw the crash happen right before her eyes. Alladio immediately pulled over and ran towards the flaming wreck. When she got there, she saw an unconscious man, with his arms ablaze, inside the vehicle.

With cars whizzing by and onlookers just standing, 47 year-old Alladio extinguished the flames engulfing the man with her sweatshirt and started pulling him out of the burning SUV. When the victim was about half-way out of the vehicle, a car with three teenagers stopped and finally assisted Alladio, helping her pull the victim to safety.

Engines 9 and 43 arrived within minutes of the crash and escorted the crash victim, Masanito Matasuura, to the hospital.

Recognizing that Alladio’s actions most certainly saved Matasuura’s life, Captain Steve Concialdi of Engine 9 and Captain Mike McGrath of engine 43 nominated Alladio for the Certificate of Heroism Award, also known as the Chief’s Award, for her bravery.

The award is the highest recognition a citizen can receive from the city, and there was no doubt that the Alladio deserved it. According to the Register, where Alladio’s story earned a front page spot, Alladio suffered a broken wrist and first and third degree burns on her stomach and hands as she rescued Matasuura.

For their assistance, McGrath and Concialdi also nominated Nathan Navarro, Chasen Radison and Spencer Owen for Letters of Recognition.
Concialdi and Battalion Chief Scott Brown presented the awards at the Mission Viejo City Council meeting on October 19. Concialdi said that Matasuura, a graduating student the University of California Irvine,

suffered burns over 25% of his body, as well as third degree burns on his arms and hands. However, because of the bravery of Alladio, Matasuura recovered and was able to graduate on time.